I grew up in Milwaukee and childhood was spent pretty much like any other kids’ childhood. I loved playing tennis, swimming, and listening to music. And I was always a huge reader. Nancy Drew mysteries were my early books of choice, and later I devoured everything from commercial fiction to the classics. I don’t know if it was all that reading, but I always had a super vivid imagination.

I went to an all-girls Catholic high school in Milwaukee and it was then that I met a teacher, Mr. Grandy, who first noticed my talent for writing. I did what any other high schooler would do though – I ignored his advice to pursue writing and instead studied economics at Georgetown University, determined to work on Wall Street. (I was so obsessed with that dream I had a picture of Michael Milken on my bulletin board.)

After three years working in finance, I moved to Los Angeles, a city I had only visited once, on little more than a whim. Once I got there, I decided that my lifelong dream of working in finance wasn’t agreeing with me, and I begged my way into United Talent Agency, where I started in the mailroom and then worked for the head of the TV Literary Department.

Soon after, inspired by the creativity around me in Hollywood, I finally took Mr. Grandy’s advice and began writing. My first novel, The Mating Season, started as a short story written a guy I had a crush on from afar. It was published by St. Martin’s Press, and paved the way for my next novel, The Gilded Life of Matilda Duplaine, which was released by Harlequin/MIRA in September 2015.

In addition to writing, I founded the popular website Bungalux.com on luxury living, and I am currently a real estate agent at The Agency in Beverly Hills. Over the past twelve years, I have been involved in over $400 million of real estate transactions, and I absolutely love working with clients to find them their dream home.